


tinted cheeks and rosy lips

by orphan_account



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Christmas, Fluff, M/M, and really badly researched starsigns, brief mention of drama, lots of fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-22
Updated: 2013-12-22
Packaged: 2018-01-05 14:25:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1095005
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>harry owns a  shop that sells christmas drinks and trinkets. louis wants to buy one.</p>
            </blockquote>





	tinted cheeks and rosy lips

**Author's Note:**

> it's cute i think.  
> please enjoy.  
> i liked writing it.  
> and sorry about the i'm no expert ha.

‘hello.’ harry glanced up, raising his eyebrows at the person who walked in.  
‘hi?’ he asked, unsure of what the person was doing here, it wasn’t opening time for at least another hour or so.  
‘i heard you sell snow globes.’ harry nodded. ‘and i was wondering whether i could buy one.’  
‘we don’t open for an hour. come back then and you can.’ he said precisely, ignoring the person’s adorable looks. he wasn’t willing to let a random customers looks swoon him enough that he would go against the rules.  
‘excuse me?’ harry looked up again at the cute person, looking him up and down. a brown jumper with a cream shirt underneath, his collar peeking over the neckline. and a pair of dark brown skinny jeans, a pair of black suspenders strapping around his shoulders and joined in a cross on his back. and the most adorable brown beanie, sat right on top of his fluffy hair that harry so desperately wanted to card his hands through.  
‘come back in an hour, we aren’t open. i can put one in reserve for you if you give me your name.’ harry mumbled. he didn’t need to know the person’s name, he just wanted it for the sake of having it, and could use it as a step to get to know him better.  
‘that one,’ the cutie pointed at a small snow globe in the case by one of the christmas mugs. it had a white base, and a sculpted snowman being swarmed with the fake snow. ‘and i’m louis.’  
‘okay, louis. come back in an hour and you can have your snow globe.’  
and louis left.  
*  
surprisingly, for harry, louis actually came back later on. there was a swarm of people sat in his coffee shop, all sipping on their mugs of cinnamon and spice latte’s, all wanting a decent enough excuse to not stay outside in the every developing snow.  
‘harry.’ louis smiled, putting the satchel he was carrying over his shoulder on the counter, his cheeks a bright pink colour with a dash of the pinkness on his nose. and, curse for harry, he looked even more adorable.  
‘louis.’ harry replied with a small smile, still fiddling about to wash some of the empty mugs that were left on the counter, spritzing a little bit of washing liquid in the sink, leaving the mugs to rinse before he flushed them with water again.  
‘can i have my snow globe now?’ louis asked, rubbing his hands together.  
‘it hasn’t been an hour.’ harry pointed out, pointing to the clock in the corner which displayed 9:05.  
‘pardon?’ louis questioned again, resting a hand on his hip.  
‘you came in at 9:10, it’s five past. i said come back in an hour, hasn’t been an hour.’ harry shrugged his shoulders, calling out a usual ‘two spice brownie latte’s for sarah and john’, before pulling his attention back to louis.  
‘honestly.’ louis huffed, and pulled around a chair from the table that was closest to the counter, crossing one leg over the other as he looked up at louis with glittery blue eyes that highly resembled diamonds and water and everything that harry suddenly loved. he felt like he was jumping into a pool of happiness whenever louis dared to look at him.  
‘would you like a drink while you wait five minutes?’ harry asked, wiping down the glass counter that had all the special christmas gifts in that were sold around this time. people bought them, or paid extra to use them for their drinks, and harry liked that. made everything feel more christmassy.  
(if you ignore the fact that harry spent the entirety of the thirtieth of november and early morning december first decorating his shop with small trees and tiny fairy lights that hung around the booths. needless to say, harry quite enjoyed the christmas period.)  
‘you do tea right?’ harry nodded. ‘tea, then. no fancy sprinkles or whatever else you seem to put in these spice lattes that everybody loves.’  
‘dismal. they make everything warm. christmas mug?’ harry brushed off louis’ comment, pulling up a small penguin mug that had a small chip in the corner. zayn had said he should get rid of it, but harry didn’t like the idea of throwing away a perfectly good mug that could still do its job.  
‘does it cost more?’  
harry shook his head. ‘not for someone who looks as nice as you.’ that earned a small smile from louis, who nodded a little and settled more into the chair, draping his black jacket over the chair.  
‘flirt.’  
harry rolled his eyes and went to make the tea. he flicked on the switch that filled the mug up with hot water, dipping a tea bag in there as well. when it as nearly full, he turned back to face louis, the small jug of milk and pot of sugar in his hand. ‘how much?’  
‘two and a half sugars, a lot of milk.’ harry smiled, starting with making the drink to the highest standards that he thought louis would like, before walking around the counter to set it in front of him, maybe dropping a complimentary cookie or more there as well.  
‘so, louis. what brings you to my wonderful little coffee shop today?’ harry asked, completing the other orders that he still had on his list. the place was small, so he still had the honour of listening to louis’ floaty voice as he manoeuvred around to serve the customers.  
‘my friend, niall, has a guy he wants to impress. he said he wanted to buy him something cute, and said there was a small shop down the road that sold them. it was this place. though, i must say when i came across i never expected to find a gift like you. i expected some old guy or a waitress with bleach blonde hair. you were a pleasant surprise.’ louis shrugged his shoulders, blowing at the tea with puckered, peachy lips before taking a sip.  
‘you’re awfully charming. i could try to compliment you back but i’m positive you would’ve already heard half of them.’ harry shrugged, fluffing up his hair as he pulled out the snow globe that louis wanted. he realised it was almost ten past, but he didn’t want louis to leave, he was nice to talk to, good company.  
‘ah, not really, curly. i mean, people try to compliment me, but if they don’t have the dimples, the hair or the eyes, i’m not going to bear them any attention.’ harry heard louis chuckle, even though it much more resembled a fairly giggling. it wasn’t necessarily high-pitched, just sounded like a million tiny bells sounding through the shop and harry could’ve sworn that everybody chugging their drinks down or nibbling on cookies paused to admire the beautiful sound.  
‘the dimples, the hair, or the eyes. that’s a very precise list of things.’  
‘and if you haven’t checked a mirror in ages, you fulfil all of them.’ louis smiled, and harry turned back around to face the feather-haired lad. was this flirting? harry never really flirted with people. he did often drop a cheeky comment to girls or boys he found particularly endearing, but he’d never really had a long conversation with small hints.  
‘oh, louis, no. you shouldn’t pay attention to me or whatever i say. i just serve drinks and sell snow globes for a living, how could that be interesting?’ harry shook his head, tearing off a piece of tissue paper so that he could wrap the snow globe up, careful to not break off any of the intricate decoration.  
‘i don’t know, curly. but it is interesting. trust my judgement, i’m a drama student. i pay attention to detail and i know what’s interesting and what’s not.’ harry noted louis’ subject, he could possibly use that in future conversations that they might have. he picked up one of the boxes and put the snow globe nicely inside, surrounding it in a white tissue paper before taping the lid shut.  
‘drama? i thought you’d be some math genius. i’m working for a degree in astrology. weird, but it’s nice.’ harry mumbled, picking up a piece of card, basically a gift card, and started writing on it.  
‘astrology. that’s cute. so maybe you’d know what starsign’s are compatible.’ harry nodded as louis stood up and leaned on the counter, waiting for harry to finish writing.  
‘tell me your birthdate and i’ll do you and me.’ harry said.  
‘december 24th.’ louis stated.  
‘you’re capricorn. i’m aquarius.’ harry noted as louis watched.  
‘and?’  
‘aquarius and capricon is air and earth, which makes dust. those two are a mysterious combination. both are ruled by the planet saturn, which is good. because saturn mainly rules capricorn’s born between december 22nd and january first, so that’s a good match. there’s a bunch of sexual stuff involved, but mainly there’s an unusual attraction because the two are fairly different.’ harry recited, remembering the information from one of his last finals.  
‘ooh, interesting. maybe i’ll be coming back here then, because you wrote your number in the gift card, smooth, curly.’ louis grinned, patting harry’s cheek before picking up the snow globe and walked out the coffee shop, leaving harry completely bewildered and confused to what happened, but he really hoped he’d see louis again.  
*  
the next time harry saw louis, it was late. a few minutes before closing time, when the boy came rushing in two weeks later. harry had been awfully upset when he had no contact from louis, like the boy completely forgot that he wrote his number on the gift tag.  
‘harry.’ louis said in a tired and exasperated voice.  
‘louis.’ harry repeated, picking up saucers and mugs that had been left on the tables. he was tempted to kick louis out, seeing as he had a final exam to prepare for and it was about thirty seconds from the official closing time, but he didn’t. louis looked tired, like he’d run a marathon, so he gently pushed the boy onto one of the cushiony chairs in the corner so he could make them both a drink.  
‘so, like,’ louis started, catching his breath as he took a long sip from the piping hot mug of hot chocolate that harry set in front of him, shutting his eyes at the delightful taste that danced around his mouth. ‘i’ve been calling you for ages but it says the number isn’t in use. and i need you.’  
‘the number i gave you is right though?’ harry inquired, folding up his apron so he could set it under the counter for use in the morning. ‘07972241291?’  
‘no? you told me 07972247291.’ louis frowned, pushing the gift tag towards harry, whose mouth formed a perfect ‘o’ shape.  
‘the seven is meant to be a one.’ harry chuckled, changing it with a pen from behind his ear. ‘change of topic, why do you need me?’  
‘for a piece of work, a monologue, we need to choose a topic to perform, and i chose star signs because why the hell not? and i tried researching but it makes no sense, and i need to know about capricorn so i can talk about it with emotion and stuff like that.’ louis rambled out, as though it was very important, which is was. harry understood the stress of university and the projects, essays and finals they needed to work at, so he was willing to stay and talk. also, this was helping him revise, his exam is on the starsigns, so talking about capricorn will help.  
‘what do you need to know? i mean there’s the dates and the typical personalities and stuff.’ harry shrugged his shoulders, holding his mug between his hands to keep himself warm, looking intently over at louis. he barely knew the boy, but felt some sort of weird attraction to him that made him so interesting, and harry thought back to the myth of twin souls, but doubted that would happen.  
‘personality, and it’s based on an astrologer who’s upset that the girl he likes isn’t compatible and because he’s a big believer he isn’t interested in trying.’  
so, for the next few hours until eleven o’clock, harry and louis stayed bundled up together in one of the booths as harry wrote out all about the capricorn’s, and how one of their particular personality points (that louis found interesting), was bending the rules and being slightly mischievous, which harry found out was one of louis’ most well-known traits, and how he was known to be a joker in his university. harry smiled at that, at how this mature-seeming boy who was fretting over a small assignment could be so small and child-like, and it just made him want to get to know him better.  
‘and that’s about it. hope that was enough.’ harry sighed when they finished, holding up the a4 sheet of paper that was filled on both sides with information and ideas that louis could incorporate into his piece. harry stood up slowly, brushing off the table-top which had a collection of crumbs gathered there from the cookies and biscuits they snacked on, picking up the mugs so he could quickly wash them in the faucet.  
‘plenty, actually.’ louis mumbled, shrugging back on his jacket as he walked towards the counter, resting his arms on there as he watched harry clean up.  
‘good. come back after you’ve done it so i know how it went.’ harry asked, fiddling about until he turned back around, where he was met with louis, again. but louis was surprisingly close; he was leaning over the counter, his eyes sparkling with a kind of affection harry had never seen before, blinking every so often as he looked up at harry.  
‘will do,’ louis replied in a quiet voice, which was different in comparison to his usually loud and sweet voice. ‘my lips are cold now i don’t have a drink.’  
‘and what can i do? i can make you a coffee to go.’ harry murmured, not really getting the hint at what louis was doing. he went to turn around, to pick up a polystyrene cup but was stopped when louis held onto his hand, intertwined their fingers as he shook his head.  
‘i don’t want a coffee.’ louis smiled.  
‘what do you want?’  
‘the taste that your lips allow.’ harry smiled, getting the reference from an ed sheeran lyric.  
‘my?’ harry asked, which louis nodded to.  
‘give me love.’  
and at that, harry could see louis rise onto his tiptoes, and pressed his lips firmly, but managed softly, onto harry’s, moving his hand to cup harry’s cheek. it was short, sweet, but harry didn’t think he’d be able to describe the emotions that flashed through him. he didn’t want to be cliché, but it was weird. every ounce of his body felt woken up despite the time, getting a tiny shock in each blood cell that circulated around. it was different, not that harry had experienced many kisses. he frowned a little when louis pulled back.  
‘you taste like cinnamon on the most precious peanut cookies.’ louis whispered with a giggle, standing up straight as he let go of harry.  
‘that’s the most amazing description i’ve ever heard.’ harry smiled, straightening up the neckline to his shirt. he was happy, he didn’t know why, there was just something about louis that brightened up his day, and he supposed that aquarius and capricorn are actually compatible.  
‘well you’re an amazing person who deserves an amazing description.’ louis shrugged his shoulders, slinging his satchel back over him as he shuffled about on the balls of his feet.  
‘not very amazing. but we can beg to differ on that.’ harry chuckled, flicking the switch to the fairy lights so he could go home. he walked around the counter and pushing louis outside, following behind him as he locked the door to the coffee shop, pulling the shutters down with much effort.  
harry turned back to face louis, who just pulled him into a tight hug, being bought up onto his tiptoes as he wrapped his arms around harry’s neck, taking in the scent of his cologne.  
‘so. if i come back tomorrow at the same time can we go through a different star sign?’ louis asked, settling back down onto his feet, the snow just about covering them. harry saw louis shiver, and watched as the smaller boy pulled the two ends round and zipped them up, bundling into the material.  
‘of course. i do enjoy sitting in the dark, bonding over hot cups of cocoa and coffee.’ harry sighed, looking down at louis as he stuffed his hands into his pockets.  
‘good,’ louis smiled. ‘because i planned on doing that and then asking you to come see my drama piece.’  
‘i’d be happy to.’ harry shrugged.  
‘perfect. so after that, if i come back to your café at the same time of night, we can just cuddle? because that sounds much nicer.’ louis grinned, swaying slightly on his feet, his lip ever so slightly quivering.  
‘and i can warm up your lips some more?’ harry inquired.  
‘there’s nothing i’d really want more,’ louis said. ‘but the most important question; if i keep doing this for several more nights, will you be considered my boyfriend?’  
harry smiled, and brushed back a section of his own hair, hoping the tinted colour in his cheeks was from the cold and not from a blush. ‘yes. yes i would be.’  
‘fantastic. so, morning then?’ louis giggled, smiling widely.  
‘what time?’  
‘9 am sharp?’ louis asked, and harry nodded.  
‘perfect.’


End file.
